Delray Campaigns Revolve Around Harmony, Manager

DELRAY BEACH -- If candidates are to be believed, years of political infighting will magically cease with the punch of a ballot card at Tuesday`s city election.

Unity. Harmony. Restoration of community spirit.

Such are the catch phrases the seven candidates emphasize as they explain why they can best chart a new course for the city.

Each candidate agrees that city commissioners must put personal differences aside and work together for the common good, but each has a different idea of how he will achieve that goal.

Two candidates seeking to unseat incumbents promise to oust interim City Manager Malcolm Bird, whom they claim is too political.

One says often-criticized Police Chief Charles Kilgore is part of the house- cleaning package.

``It would be my advice to the new city manager that the police chief be required to retire immediately,`` said Jay Alperin, a dentist who is challenging one-term incumbent Patricia Brainerd for the District 2 seat.

The election, which pits native against newcomer, old against young, man against woman and black against black, is a landmark one for the city.

After enduring years of political bickering that many claim has stymied the city`s progress and tarnished its image, voters have a chance for the first time in more than a decade to determine the makeup of the majority of the commission.

Mayor Doak Campbell`s announcement in January that he would not seek a fourth term left the mayoral race wide open. Three political newcomers -- Ernie Simon, Tom Lynch and Michael Caruso -- rushed to fill the void.

Voters also have the rare opportunity to determine who will or will not sit in the city manager`s office.

Seeds of discontent that were planted in August, when the commission dumped popular City Manager Walter Barry, assured the election would be as much a referendum on Bird as it is on the performance of the commission.

At candidate forums, the crowd listened closely when the big question was asked: Should the current manager be retained?

The answer is always the same: Two, no; Five, undecided.

But voters can do their own mathematics.

If either Dave Randolph, who is challenging incumbent Commission Jimmy Weatherspoon, or Alperin is elected, Bird is out.

Either of them would provide the third vote Commissioners Mary McCarty and Bill Andrews need to send Bird looking for employment elsewhere.

If both incumbents win, Bird`s future is less certain.

Like Weatherspoon and Brainerd, all three mayoral candidates have declined to reveal their feelings about Bird. To do so would be unfair to a citizens committee formed to help the commission select the city`s next manager, they said. Ironically, the committee is to meet on election day to decide whether Bird will be one of the five applicants who will be considered.

Aside from the pledge to restore harmony to the commission and the Bird factor, issues in the election have been few.

Left with few issues, political gadflys have created their own.

A whisper campaign, alleging that some of the candidates are racists or anti- Semitic has been launched in some parts of the city.

Another focus for political watchers has been the qualifications of Caruso, 31, who has lived in the city for three years.

His campaign literature proclaims that he has been a certified public accountant for 11 years, but his first license was issued in Maryland in 1983, according to officials there.

The four-year discrepancy has been played up by Caruso`s political foes. But he insists there is no intent to deceive. He said that he began working for a national accounting firm in Washington, D.C., in 1979, therefore he has been working as a certified public accountant for 11 years.

Another contention is that Lynch, Randolph and Alperin are running as a slate -- hand-picked by those who want to put Barry back in office. Although they share many of the same supporters, all insist they are rugged independents who aren`t trying to promote any particular agenda.

While many are looking forward to Tuesday`s election, hoping to be able to finally put electioneering to rest, many believe the race won`t end for at least two more weeks. With three people in the mayor`s race, many predict a run-off election will be needed. If that prediction holds true, the run-off election would be held March 27.